(Reuters) – Local residents blew up a Nigerian oil pipeline operated by Italy’s Eni in the restive Niger Delta, cutting output further in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter, a state governor said on Thursday.
It was the second attack in as many days by community members in the delta, the heart of Nigeria’s oil production.
“Some community members went into the forest where the pipeline is located and under cover of night blew it up,” Bayelsa state Governor Timipre Sylva told Reuters. “The amount of crude affected was not too significant.”
Eni said it shut 47,000 barrels per day of production after two pipelines linked to the Brass River export terminal and Ogbambiri flowstations suffered a sudden loss of pressure. The cause of the problem was not immediately known, Eni said.
U.S. crude rose more than $1 a barrel to around $136 a barrel after Eni’s confirmation. Sylva earlier said only 20,000 bpd was shut-in.
Attacks on oil facilities have become increasingly common as militants and residents of the delta seek greater control of the region’s rich resources.
Violence in Nigeria has cut the country’s output by a fifth since early 2006, helping push world oil prices to record highs.
Sylva said Thursday’s attack was sparked by a “community dispute” with foreign oil companies working in the area. He did not elaborate.
The attack followed a waterborne shootout on Wednesday near Port Harcourt between militants and Nigerian security forces in which five people were killed and several wounded.
About 30 armed men in speedboats attacked a navy vessel that was guarding key oil facilities in southern Rivers state. Three militants, a naval serviceman and a civilian were killed. No group has claimed responsibility.
The surge in violence has prompted President Umaru Yar’Adua to seek international assistance, and Britain said on Wednesday it would provide military experts to advise Nigeria’s security forces.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the main rebel group in the region, ended a two-week ceasefire on Saturday in retaliation for an earlier British promise of help for the government’s efforts to tackle the violence.
“MEND is so ashamed of the Nigerian military’s appeal for the so-called military experts from the UK who know nothing about surviving in the Delta creeks,” the group’s spokesman, who uses the pseudonym Jomo Gbomo, said in an e-mail to Reuters.